A Possible Contingency
by The Wolf That Got Away
Summary: The Catalyst, imagined here as a female AI, plots on "smuggling" itself and the Reapers' programming system onto the Ark Hyperion to evade destruction. Things went downhill from there. (NOW COMPLETED)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note : I have decided to pour some of my imagination into this piece of fanfiction, instead of letting it flying around in my head. The scenario presented here is definitely non-canon, so any review is welcomed. Of course, being a writer from Southeast Asia, my fanfic might contain some typos or incorrect sentences (YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)**

 **xxxx**

Somewhere deep within the Citadel, something ancient is looking for an information...

 _/SEARCHING DATA.../_

 _/DATA RECOVERED.../_

 _/PROJECT NAME ANDROMEDA INITIATIVE/_

 _/FOUNDER GARSON, JIEN/_

 _/GOAL TO ESTABLISH THE FIRST FOOTHOLD IN THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY. UPDATE FOUNDING A NEW FRONTIER OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, ECONOMIC BOOST, AND DIPLOMATIC ALLIANCES WITH THE INHABITANTS OF THE NEW GALAXY./_

 _/PARTICIPANTS HUMAN, TURIAN, ASARI, KROGAN, SALARIAN, QUARIAN./_

 _/UPDATE NOTE UNCONFIRMED ACCOUNTS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCES BEING INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT./_

 _/PROJECT STATUS 89% COMPLETE./_

 _/LOGGING OFF.../_

 **xxxx**

Interesting, she thought as she moved the interface out of existence. Very interesting, for such a young race to kickstart an endearing adventure, although they actually aren't the brightest or the most peaceful race in the known galaxy, as they are persistently at odds with the other lesser races, both Citadel associates and non-associates.

And yet, they had robbed her and the 'children' of her most valuable, and most prideful, child, Nazara. One species, one _man_ , was capable of silencing the voice of a million strong.

She has had the oldest one, Harbinger, to investigate whether or not these humans are worthy to be the galaxy's true guardian, or if they are just another anecdote unworthy of any acknowledgement.

Still, the prospect of a lesser species, no matter how advanced they are, to travel across the great void to reach another galaxy is laughable at best. No species had successfully discovered a way of travelling to another galaxy without severely depleting their own resources, even if said resource is simply the prized Element Zero. 2.5 million light years of nothing but void stands between the two galaxies, something that can't be crossed by standard FTL flight; if anyone does it anyway, they'll require 600 to 700 years before even reaching the outer rim of the other side. Moreover, nearly everyone seemed content on staying here for thousands of years, and not batting an eye towards whatever lies beyond the Milky Way rim.

In theory, it _is_ possible to survive through the 6 centuries voyage if one can outlive the passage of time. The most popular answer is that one can utilize stasis pods to keep all participants alive. But even this method presented a danger; what if the pods are damaged, ran out of power or hacked by irresponsible people? It seemed like the Andromeda Initiative only accepted the best and brightest of societies, leaving virtually no room for saboteurs or terrorists.

She had dictated, indirectly, that the mass effect energy shall be the Milky Way's technological foundation for every species, from their military gears to daily necessities. Mass Relays are the norm of interstellar travel; without it, the Milkians (a fairly insulting title she used to refer to the lesser ones) will face significant challenges at establishing galaxy-wide colonization. If they want to escape this galaxy, new breakthroughs on space travel must be produced.

But now, look at the humans! Barely 30 years since their first-contact situation, and they already colonized so many star systems and depleted its resources faster than any other alien race that many anti-human individuals mistook the humans as 'greedy planet-eaters'. That, coupled with rapid scientific advancements mankind has created, much to the awe and horror of many lesser ones, has made humanity an interesting test subject for Harbinger's petri dish. Harbinger claimed to be intrigued only by humanity's diverse genomic structure, but even she could understand why humanity is feared by aliens.

Once again, she took control of the interface and started to dig through the Citadel's massive archives to find out what humanity has achieved so far.

 _/SEARCHING CODEX.../_

 _/CODEX FOUND.../_

 _/SPECIES HUMAN (HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS)_

 _ORIGIN EARTH/TERRA, OF THE SOL SYSTEM_

 _CLASS MAMMALIA_

 _LIFESPAN 85-120 STANDARD GALACTIC YEARS_

 _DNA LEVO AMINO..._

 _NOTABLE HISTORICAL EVENTS :_

 _WORLD WAR 1_

 _ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS_

 _THE RISE OF THE NAZI ORGANIZATION_

 _WORLD WAR 2_

 _ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION_

 _MOON LANDING AS THE FIRST ATTEMPT AS SPACE TRAVEL_

 _THE WAR ON TERROR.../_

All those useless information about wars and many, many more unneeded data made their way into her mind. Those data were dated as far back as the 1500s until as current as 2140s by Earth calendar customary. Of course, the asari and salarians scientists made good efforts to catalogue everything they can find about humans, from their culinary, traditions, religions, governmental structures, everything. And the information was meticulously packed into the archives.

But one recently-uploaded data from the Systems Alliance's cross-species diplomatic affairs had the AI stopped in track.

 _/ALLIANCE DIPLOMATS RECEIVED NEWS FROM QUARIAN SCIENTISTS AND SCOUTS FROM THE MIGRANT FLEET. GETH CONSTRUCTS IN THE PERSEUS VEIL SYSTEM WERE APPARENTLY CONSTRUCTING A GIANT SPACE TELESCOPE ASSEMBLED FROM THREE BROKEN MASS RELAYS. THE TELESCOPE WAS DIRECTED TOWARDS DARK SPACE._

 _QUARIAN SCOUTS BELIEVED THE GETH WERE TRYING TO OBSERVE THE NEIGHBORING GALAXY, ALSO KNOWN TO THE HUMANS AS 'ANDROMEDA' GALAXY'._

 _THE MIGRANT FLEET IS REPORTEDLY GOING TO DISASSEMBLE THE TELESCOPE, ALTHOUGH THE QUARIAN ADMIRALITY BOARD DENIES THE NEWS, CITING THAT THEY WILL HAVE THE TELESCOPE TAKEN FROM GETH SPACE AND SHARE IT WITH THE GALACTIC COMMUNITY./_

For the first time in forever, she understood what it felt like to be dumbfounded.

Deciding against erasing the information from the Citadel archives, she once again directed the interface and swiftly rummaged through the colossal amount of irrelevant data on the human race.

After three minutes, which felt like an eternity for the one billion-year-old AI, she found what she desired. The full overview of what the project was intended to do.

 _/CHARTING THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY FOR HABITABLE PLANETS PRESENTS A UNIQUE CHALLENGE. OBSERVATION IS LIMITED BY LIGHT, AND GIVEN ANDROMEDA'S DISTANCE, ANY OBSERVATIONS FROM THE MILKY WAY ARE 2.5 MILLION YEARS OUT OF DATE–ENOUGH TIME FOR A PLANET TO HAVE ALTERED IRREVOCABLY._

 _INITIAL ATTEMPTS TO IDENTIFY SETTLEMENT SITES WERE MADE BY OBTAINING ASARI ASTRONOMICAL SURVEYS AND RUNNING THEM THROUGH PREDICTIVE MODELS, BUT JIEN GARSON WAS UNWILLING TO RISK THOUSANDS OF COLONISTS WITHOUT SOLID INFORMATION./_

This is reasonable. Someone wouldn't want to perform an experiment if they have no guaranteed safety and lack vital assets, and Jien Garson was no exception. The AI concluded that Garson could be... no, _must be_ immeasurably wealthy to fund a one-way journey across the dark space. Even _she_ wouldn't squander any kind of resources on her 'children' if she couldn't find a good excuse to do so.

The following paragraph 'suggested' that the asari attempted to study a galaxy so distant by only using astronomical observations and predictions, much like the humans and their 21st century Hubble telescope. _How primitive_ , she thought.

 _/EVENTUALLY, THE INITIATIVE OBTAINED PROMISING DATA FROM QUARIAN EXPLORERS WHO CLAIMED TO HAVE FOUND A GETH ARRAY ON THE FRINGES OF THE PERSEUS VEIL. THIS ARRAY WAS SUPPOSEDLY BUILT FROM THREE MASS RELAYS, USING SENSORS IN THE COMBINED RELAY CORRIDOR AS A FORM OF FTL "TELESCOPE" TO OBSERVE DARK SPACE BEYOND THE GALACTIC RIM. WHY THE GETH EXPENDED SO MUCH EFFORT TO STUDY DARK SPACE IS NOT KNOWN./_

She scoffed. _Thanks for nothing, Nazara,_ she mused. After the Vanguard revealed itself to the Geth collective on Rannoch, a portion of the simple-minded AIs revered Nazara as the pinnacle of synthetic evolution, a robotic god. Eventually, around one fourth of the Geth's total population left the quarian homeworld to abide themselves as Nazara's underlings. The remaining Geth was allegedly to shell-shocked about this schism. So, it was very likely that the 'mass relay-telescope' was made in order to detect the rest of her 'children's armada' and maybe the 'Geth Heretics' that were spared from the Battle of the Citadel in 2183.

Still, the Initiative's founder saw that opportunity to see where the thing was aimed at. And boy, was Garson the luckiest pioneer ever; the telescope was directed at Andromeda.

 _/AMONGST THESE OBSERVATIONS WERE NEAR-CONTEMPORARY SURVEYS OF ANDROMEDA. WHEN OUR PREDICTIVE MODELS CONFIRMED THEM WITHIN AN ACCEPTABLE MARGIN, THE INITIATIVE WAS ABLE TO BEGIN IDENTIFYING "GOLDEN WORLDS./_

"Golden Worlds." The AI said, the term felt stupid and unscientific to her taste. Pulling up another interface, she took a moment to find the Initiative's marketing campaign. In it, the project elaborated the aforementioned golden worlds, seven supposedly habitable planets that will become the main foothold of the Andromeda Initiative. The website also gave a long list of what should be done once they discover and settle the planets, ranging from building initial outposts, awakening and assigning important personnel from cryostasis, securing the surrounding areas, and finally erecting a full-fledged colony. "Sounds like a lot of work."

But let's not forget, everything can change drastically in 600 years. There were possibilities of these golden worlds to become not 'golden' anymore. The planets might either get occupied by the Andromeda natives, bombarded by meteors or undergoing an extinction event. If Jien Garson insisted on ferrying 100,000 colonists all the way to the new galaxy, she might end up having them killed on site.

All these information energized the AI, because they gave her new insights to ponder about. Perhaps her 'children' would like to voice their thoughts?

In an instant, the interfaces disappeared. Concentrating her mind, she reached out to the ascended ones, hiding beyond the outer edge of the home-galaxy. They were still hibernating, but with the power of her signal, they were all awake.

"It's good that you're all aware."

"Master." One of them greeted. "What do you need from us?"

"I would like your thoughts on this... troubling news."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note : I'm surprised to see a few follows on the first chapter. Alright, here's another chapter, also another test to see if this fanfic is feasible to expand. There will be serious non-canon character interaction here that shouldn't be taken as canon. Remember, you have been warned.**

 **xxxx**

"What do you need?"

Kithara, one of Harbinger's trusted senior ascended, answered almost immediately after waking up. His form, consisting of three 'eyes' and eight appendages, appeared as a translucent hologram before the AI. Behind him, more ascended holograms came online to signify the awakening of his kind.

They were all synthetic entities; greetings and formalities were not the norm of their collective's interaction. Without further ado, the AI 'shoved them the bundle of information she retrieved earlier.

Patiently examining data after data, the ascended fleet studied the organics' effort to unknowingly escape the harvest. It was wrong. It was impossible. No race was smart enough to learn _any_ method to venture into dark space. Furthermore, virtually everyone in the Milky Way was too dependent on the Mass Relay system. Without the system the ascended planted into the galaxy as the norm of galactic civilization...

"They won't be able to colonize worlds fast enough. Yes, I've had that thought before."

Kithara was confused. As far as he knew, the master was not the one to overthink matters. And yet here she was, seemingly irritated and confused, not by the project but the idea of someone trying to evade ascension.

"Master, are you... bewildered?" Kithara asked cautiously.

"Yes."

"May we know the reason behind this?"

"It's not important." The AI snapped quietly, "No, it's not right. I... I had been thinking of 'ideas' to keep us alive." she added after a tense moment.

Materializing an interface next to a small ascended, the AI skimmed through the database until she found what she abandoned before; a detailed but largely classified information regarding the illegal artificial intelligence proposed as an overseer of the entire Initiative. Its name is SAM, abbreviation of Simulated Adaptive Matrix, an AI capable of interacting with Initiative participants with the use of special implants. The rest of the data pretty much summarized SAM's role; providing near-instantaneous language translation for the user, gathering Intel, and boosting combat capabilities when the situation requires it.

But SAM also provided one critical weakness; an exposed AI Node. because the Node can be accessed by pretty much everyone, there is a chance the intelligence could be corrupted or damaged by unauthorized person. To put it simply...

"You can't possibly be serious, master."

"SAM can be hacked for our use." The master concluded, oblivious to Kithara's objections. The rest of the fleet seemed to side with Kithara.

The wave of disagreement did not go unnoticed by the master. moving the interface aside, she asked them "Is there anything wrong?"

"Your plan, that's what!" Shouted Klinge, noted as the boldest of the ascended. "Our code has declared us to stay here, in the Milky Way as its true guardian against the chaos perpetuated by the organics. We are not to tamper with other galaxies, and we shouldn't be bothering ourselves with visiting one! The preservation of Milky Way species is the top priority of the armada, what harm will befall us if we let a handful of organics to run away? It's not like they are aware of us, let alone have the ability to build an army once they reach the Andromeda galaxy." his objection was met with mumblings of acknowledgement.

"I'm not calling you to persuade you all to chase them down. Before you try to cut my briefing again, let me ask you; how much ally does Commander Shepard have at his disposal? Yes, I'm talking about THAT Commander Shepard."

Willfully ignoring the whispers among her 'children', the master set the interface before them and revealed a set of data.

/ _ACCESSING SYSTEM ALLIANCE PERSONNEL FILE.../_

 _/NAME : COMMANDER SHEPARD, JOHN_

 _D.O.B : 04/11/2154_

 _BIRTHPLACE : NEW YORK, EARTH_

 _RANK : CITADEL SPECTRE, FORMER ALLIANCE N7_

 _STATUS : DEFECTED FROM ALLIANCE MILITARY, ALLEGEDLY WORKING WITH TERRORIST ORGANIZATION CERBERUS_

 _/KNOWN ASSOCIATES :_

 _\- DR. LIARA T'SONI (ASARI SCIENTIST)_

 _\- GARRUS VAKARIAN (TURIAN VIGILANTE)_

 _\- URDNOT WREX (KROGAN BATTLEMASTER)_

 _\- URDNOT GRUNT (TANK-BRED KROGAN)_

 _\- KASUMI GOTO (HUMAN THIEF)_

 _\- ZAEED MASSANI (HUMAN MERCENARY)_

 _\- SAMARA (ASARI JUSTICAR)_

 _\- JACK (HUMAN?)_

 _\- LEGION (GETH INFILTRATOR)_

 _\- MORDIN SOLUS (SALARIAN STG AGENT)_

 _\- KAIDAN ALENKO (HUMAN BIOTIC)_

 _\- ASHLEY WILLIAMS (HUMAN SOLDIER)_

 _\- TALI'ZORAH VAS NEEMA NAR RAYYA (QUARIAN PILGRIM)_

 _\- THANE KRIOS (DRELL ASSASSIN)_

As the ascended busied themselves with the Intel, New memories were being imparted upon them. It was Commander Shepard who led the Alliance fifth Fleet into the Battle of the Citadel. It was Shepard who broke Nazara down by obliterating his puppet-avatar, leading to his demise at the hands of the human battleships. If Shepard was able to unite everyone into defeating the Vanguard, imagine what might happen if he knew how to destroy the order the master had dictated onto the Milky Way. Further down the data, the fleet found out about Harbinger's failed attempt at capturing the human soldier. He was killed by the Harbinger's slaves when they blew his ship apart.

But it was not the end, for a notorious human-centric organization, Cerberus, had spent so many resources, money and otherwise into reviving the virtually dead commander. And with a renewed spirit, Shepard gathered more support from those not affiliated with the Citadel Council to jeopardize whatever Harbinger did with his Collector army. Shepard was a threat to the existence of the ascended armada. Did the master planned to evacuate some of them all the way to the neighboring galaxy, in case of imminent defeat by the supposedly legendary human commander?

"Oh." Klinge could hear the astonished thoughts of his kin. They must be thrilled to fight this Commander Shepard.

"Was that all you could voice? An 'oh' towards the achievements of a mere human?"

Without warning, Harbinger's light golden hologram appeared behind the master. Every ascended, including Klinge and Kithara, cringed at the first one's booming and prideful sound.

"Watch your tone." The master turned to face him, her own voice was full of authority, "I've seen some noteworthy 'heroes' from past cycles coming so close in wrecking the order we've established in the galaxy. And they happened because you were not thorough in your harvest. Please don't dishearten me too much by underestimating your opponent."

"It will be done, master." Said Harbinger with an overly-obedient voice. But even everyone could tell that the eldest one is not the one to actually respect his enemies. The master disregarded this and inquired him a few questions.

"What is the status of the Collectors?"

"We have captured Commander Shepard's ship crew when they attempted to activate a stolen IFF system. They are now scheduled for ascension."

"And what of the human soldier?"

"Unknown. Available information suggests that he will mount a rescue mission, if he can survive the defenses around the Collector Base."

The master turned herself away. There were possibilities of Shepard being killed in the Base, but seeing that he was able to triumph over his adversaries over and over gave her doubt. Either she kept them all here, in the Milky Way with 100% capacity as they continue with the harvest as per the code, or have some of them uploaded into the SAM Node on each Initiative arks before they travel to Andromeda, as a contingency plan to ensure their continued existence.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note : OK, I think this fanfic is good enough to be continued. However, there might be certain revisions that have to be made. And please remember, everything in here is no-canon so there would be original characters and new stroylines.**

 **xxxx**

Two weeks had passed after the _great Commander Shepard_ (Harbinger mentioned his name in a towering fury) commenced a tentatively-called suicide mission to the Collector Base, blowing it up into smithereens, and another month passed after the Reapers' thwarted strategy to hack into the Alpha Relay's system and proceed with the scheduled harvest. Commander Shepard, who underwent a one-man raid on a batarian slave camp in the Bahak system, inadvertently learnt of the ascended's plan and went alongside a semi-indoctrinated Dr. Amanda Kenson.

At the master's insistence, Harbinger increased the infrasonic wave emitted by their artifact hidden on an asteroid in the system, an 'Object Rho' as named by Dr. Kenson's science team. The sudden increase of the mysterious invisible wave caused an instantaneous change in the doctor's behavior; she was immediately brought into the Reapers' sway.

Her numerous attempt to contain, and later kill, the human soldier had failed. instead, Shepard allowed the asteroid to continue its imminent impact towards the Alpha Relay, which leads to a supernova-like explosion which wiped out Bahak and its orbiting planets... and three hundred thousand batarian pirates.

Now, the rebellious and abrasive commander was already detained by the human's System Alliance military division for blowing up a relay and working alongside a terrorist organization.

 **xxxx**

 _/ANALYZING TARGET.../_

 _/HACKING INTO TARGET'S COMPUTER.../_

 _/HACKING COMPLETE. VISUALIZING TARGET.../_

From the security camera, an old man in his mid-fifties could be seen tinkering with a machine's core. On his desk, papers and datapads were scattered haphazardly. A computer on his right has a flashing lamp; perhaps someone would like to talk to him.

Turning himself away from the unknown object, the man turned his computer on. It was a vidcall from a male turian.

"Castis, thanks for calling. Not many people admitted to still knowing me." The man said.

"It was good times, Alec." The turian replied. "So, I just got some correspondences with my son, Garrus. He was insistent that Commander Shepard was apparently right about the threat he talked about."

"This threat... they're called 'Reapers'?"

Castis shifted in his seat "Yes. According to Shepard, the Reapers had been exterminating space-faring lifeforms once every 50,000 years, galaxy wide. And supposedly the alarm clock's about to go off soon."

"Unbelievable."

"I know. Garrus asserted that Shepard was a level-headed man, he couldn't possibly made up something as serious as these. Nevertheless, if these Reapers actually show up, I don't want to be around when they do. You're an N7, you'd do the same, right?" And with that, Castis permitted himself from the vidcall. Alec slumped into his chair, the thought of an omnicidal race of robots destroying the Milky Way in a cyclic manner seemed terrifying to him.

"Alec?"

The old man jerked his head to the computer screen. An unknown woman with hidden face was talking to him. "Have you confirmed the information Commander Shepard talked about?"

"Yes. I'm afraid a war is upon us, a war so unlike any other."

"Then perhaps we need to push our timetable. With the scale of the war, gathering resources will be very difficult. The chaos itself will be monumental!" The unknown woman spoke in slight distress. "We have to make sure the arks and the Nexus escape the Milky Way before any fighting occurs."

"Years ago you mentioned 'salvation' for thousands of people. You knew this was coming."

"I had a feeling that something terrible will happen in the galaxy. Shepard had confirmed that I was right." Alec didn't have the luxury to rebuff her words. Not all of the Milky Way population was fighters, and for all they know, there were no such thing as the Reapers. The security camera recorded the conversation between Alec and the woman, discussing who and what should be loaded onto the arks before they left for Andromeda.

Once the die was cast, Alec disconnected the vidcall. It was final; the one-way trip will be the only way to preserve the people of the galaxy. Some might not be saved, but it was necessary; sacrifice the 11 billion humans on Earth so that the 100,000 colonists can rebuild their society. And Alec feared that he will have to forever conceal the true reason behind the Initiative's rushed departure.

Then there were the kids...

Steeling himself for probable rejections his children could find, he turned his machine on. It was SAM's earliest housing device.

"Yes, Pathfinder?"

"Track down my kids. Tell them their old man has a proposal."

"Affirmative."

 **xxxx**

Exactly what she needed, the AI that was to be infected... no, 'befriended' through subtle intrusion. The master had been searching for the AI's true identity ever since she learnt about its existence. And surprisingly, one of the Pathfinders of the Initiative was its creators. If the arks' blueprints were correct, the AI Node was located next to the Pathfinder's private room. But in order to enter its domain, the master must make haste, for the target ark, Hyperion, will be completed in two or three months.

"Leaving so soon?"

Argh, there he was, Harbinger. It was apparent that the eldest one was inscrutably imprudent when it came to her grand idea. She was thinking of contingency resorts to keep some of the ascended, their programming cores to be exact, as alive as she could. Harbinger on the other hand was adamant that even Commander Shepard possessed no true capability to resist the harvesting.

"I thought you would be pleased to know that the schedule will be instigated shortly."

"You and the fleet are still five months away from launching the harvest, therefore I'll have to conform myself to whatever insults you have for me."

"Don't be ridiculous. The Initiative practically knows nothing about the other galaxy. Why bother trying to upload yourself into a primitive AI and go along their 600-years' worth of sleep?"

"Because there would be a lot more primitives in the other side. The more primitive they are, the more likely indoctrination becomes their faith. Even if Commander Shepard destroyed our mobile vessels, our programming cores will still be active. However, we will need to hack into certain machines before we can build more vessels for our use."

The eldest one growled in disbelief. His master appeared very unyielding about this project, whereas she never poured so much thought into other things which evade her care. He eventually decided against participating with her own projects. If the master wished to abandon her code and journeyed outside of their rightful dominion, so be it. What mattered is that the harvest will commence in less that five month, and quite possibly be done in short time thanks to Shepard's incarceration. Harbinger had no idea how unfortunate he would be.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note : I claim no ownership of Mass Effect saga or its characters, except of my Original Characters. Enjoy.**

 **xxxx**

PLAN NO. 1

Objective : Impersonate and/or create a human female profile before infiltrating the Initiative's Hyperion.

This is easier said and done.

Firstly, the master, aided by Kithara and Klinge, spent nearly _three_ hours examining and exploiting the System Alliance's database for their own gain. The master intended to utilize a humanoid mobile platform designed to imitate a human body to its excellence. It even had a blonde hair-like substance purposely added to cover the head part. What if somebody tried to scan it? Easy; the platform would spark tiny electrical charges to simulate heartbeats or lung contractions, eliminating any suspicion the examiner might had for the unit.

Pretending to be a human is the stress-free part; making a false identity for said human is the hard part. The master prepared several names for her use, such as Lily Garland, Brianna Payne, Emily Johnson, etc. However, the names must not, in any way possible, resembled or plagiarized already existing names.

To top it all, the total population of the human species was reaching 11 billion as of 2185. Identifying each of them to ensure no name-stealing was... boring, and maybe frustrating, had only the two Reapers aiding her remained silent all the way.

Three hours later, and the only name that didn't felt "stolen" was chosen; Natalie Homer.

That name, according to the unhappy AI, was deliberately given a cartoon character's surname, for its original surname, Dormer, was owned by approximately three hundred humans from Australia, Singapore, and Netherlands.

It was decided, then. Natalie Homer will be the one to guarantee that, whatever happened during the imminent war between the Reapers and Commander Shepard's allies, she and her chosen ascended will live on, even though they must be carried as long as 2.5 million light-years away.

Then came the next session of the master's character creation, which is character profile. She must elaborate what Natalie Homer would be proficient at. For reviewing purposes, the AI projected some profiles to her interface. The list included a vanguard huntress, an engineering college graduate, a farmer ( _why would you want to pretend as a lowly farmer, master?!_ ) and an administration officer. After contemplating for another hour, and with helpful suggestions from Kithara, the master agreed to settle on the profile Alliance Infiltrator.

The third session involved their brainstorming for Natalie's curriculum vitae, adding things like where she was born, where she worked at, and whether or not Mrs. Homer had family members. Klinge personally wanted the human female to look like a computer expert, while Kithara asserted that the female be made a member of the Pathfinder team. After all, the entire Reaper collective (at least the ones agreed to be saved by the master) needed time and resources from scratch to make themselves strong again, and being a Pathfinder's team member may speed up the material-gathering progression.

The CV drafted for Natalie was more or less made as of the following.

 _NAME : NATALIE SOPHIE HOMER_

 _D.O.B. : 10/01/2160_

 _BIRTHPLACE : TERRA NOVA_

 _OCCUPATION : ALLIANCE MILITARY'S INFILTRATOR UNIT_

 _LAST POSTING : FEHL PRIME._

The two Reapers supplemented their own offers for the CV, causing it to bloat up with unneeded information. It took the three of them five and a half minutes before the list is ideal for submitting to the Andromeda Initiative recruitment office.

 **xxxx**

PLAN NO. 2

Objective : Visit the recruitment office for interview.

For an AI which have lived on the same space station for a billion years, locating an Initiative office on the Citadel was pretty much a piece of cake. For reasons unknown, Jien Garson's top representatives established their office close to the human embassy on the Presidium Ring. Well, not exactly close, but still noticeable if you walk there and not use a sky car.

The currently assigned personnel was Dory Wallace, an experienced but impressionable lady who spent forty years of her life working on the Arcturus Station.

In order to charm Mrs. Wallace, the master, now "officially" named Natalie Homer, adjusted the shell of her platform to mimic the texture and color of fine Caucasian skin. The blonde wig was cleaned and tied to give a professional look, and the body was given a white-red dress to create a classic appearance.

"This is so not you, master." Klinge noted.

So, in the morning of March 2nd 2185 (referring to human calendar, of course), Natalie made her way to the recruitment office. Her slightly extravagant style attracted many Citadel pedestrian to look at her. Ha, it's not like they actually knew, or cared about whether Natalie was a real human or not.

When she finally reached the building mentioned in Initiative marketing campaigns, Natalie observed that the office is devoid of other people; the only other person available went out of the office while muttering about being accepted to "work on plumbing". Further observation while inside the building revealed that the previous man was the first applicant of the day, because the janitors appeared to just started their jobs. The receptionist behind her worktable welcomed Natalie with enthusiasm.

Mrs. Wallace's work room was located on the third floor. With her portable body being fast and efficient, Natalie made her way up as quickly and silently as she could.

Natalie only made her presence known to the old lady when she was approaching her office, tapping her metallic feet, disguised as wearing white flat work shoes, as she came closer.

The interview, or screening as Natalie preferred to call it, ended up being long and winding into every topic the interviewer wanted. She planned to make the process as short as thirty minutes, but with the number of questions asked, it stalled until an hour and twenty five minutes.

 _W: Greetings, how may I help you?_

 _N: I heard this is the employment center for Andromeda Initiative participants?_

 _W: Correct, young lady, my name is Dory Wallace. If you're interested in joining the adventure, please hand over the requested documents (handing over a list of documents)_

 _N: What is the purpose of them, Mrs. Wallace?_

 _W: For immigration procedure once you are awaken from cryosleep._

 _N: (Shuffling through her work case) Let's see... birth certificate, identity file, work specification... Are these enough? (handing a bundle of papers to interviewer)_

As the old woman took her time examining Natalie's perfectly fabricated files, the concealed AI remotely hacked into the computers in the room and "swallowed" every bit of data she could find. Some of them revealed Alliance personnel files, as well as statistics about the currently promoted Alliance Parliament members. For a split second, Natalie was going to upload them all straight to Harbinger's mainframe. But with his approaching proximity to the Milky Way, she opted against it. The prideful ascended could delve into the database on Arcturus Station by himself.

Mrs. Wallace, after a full ten minutes, finished her checkup and shifted on her seat to face the new recruit.

 _N: I'm surprised that we still use papers until now._

 _W: Oh, that was for the United Nations archives back on Earth. You know, the United Nations oversees the human civilization on Earth, while the System Alliance governs our extrasolar business and defends us from alien attacks. Old habits die hard, especially because we were used to have papers in our workplaces for two centuries, before we even knew what a datapad was._

 _N: Surprising._

 _W: Now, back to business. Why do you choose to be a part of this one-way journey?_

 _N: I'm an Alliance Infiltrator personnel. I used to be, I chose to retire some two years ago, mainly because I find the Alliance being virtually incompetent at creating a good image of humanity to the Council, so... here I am._

 _W: Do you have any family members? Any siblings or far-flung relatives living somewhere?_

 _N: No._

 _W: How about spouses or children?_

 _N: Not really, unless you count my... work partners as "children" (laughs)._

 _W: Work partners? Are they also coming along?_

 _N: No, they practically don't care about any scientific wonder, unless they can get their hands on it._

 _W: Do you have trouble working in groups?_

 _N: I'm fine with groups. What are we going to do once an outpost is ready?_

 _W: Depends on the available manpower and priorities. With your job as a sniper, or infiltrator as you said, you'll most likely going to be an emergency quick-response member for either military or science outposts, or a security officer for trading outpost._

 _N: In that case, I'll pick science outpost. I have a knack for scientific marvels._

 _W: As I said, depends on the required establishment. I myself would rather work in the colonial affairs office than repeating the same job over once we get there._

 _N: (Nodding in consideration)_

 _W: Let's continue. Do you possess any kind of debilitating illness, impairments or personality disorders?_

 _N: Negative, I've been trying to live as healthy as I could ever since I got out of the Alliance Navy. No illness both physical and mental._

As Mrs. Wallace typed the answers into her computer, Natalie received a notification marked "urgent" sent to her mainframe. With the officer preoccupied with the data before her, Natalie secretly activated her long-distance receiver inside the platform's head. There was a recording.

"Master, we need to discuss pressing matters immediately. It's not about Shepard, rather it's about what his teammates are doing in his absence."

 _W: So, allow me to briefly elaborate the steps you will face during the launch day. First, you will receive plenty of consultations and briefings on what should and should not do once we are in Andromeda. After one month full of those seminars, you'll be given one week to prepare the mandatory equipment along with a small amount of your personal belongings. You may also say goodbye to any person you wish to contact before departure. I'd rather have a raging party instead of a teary farewell._

 _N: Then we get into cryo pods._

 _W: Not exactly, we must first go to the security posts to verify our ID tags to ensure that you are not an impostor. Then we wait for the technicians to activate the pods, after which we will be called one by one to enter. Well, the rest can be heard during the seminar, so I hope you actually attend them all._

 _N: If we get free black forest cakes (laughs). Oh, and another thing I'd like to ask. Is it possible to have me instituted into the human Pathfinder's team?_

 _W: Well, about that, I'm not in the position to send you into anything. Hopefully the Pathfinder will accept you if there's a position for a sniper._

From there on, the screening process became a little too intimate, with Mrs. Wallace expressing her own disappointment with how the Initiative was kind of rushed, though she couldn't explain why. Natalie, on the other hand, elaborated her distaste of the Alliance's pandering to the Council despite being a autonomous political entity which lies outside Council bylaw.

Once Natalie Homer had been officially accepted into the Initiative, she went back to her private base with a sense of excitement, and also dread. What the Commander's allies have done that made her "children" sent an urgent message?

Returning to the station right under her base, Natalie stored her mobile body inside a capsule before uploading her mind to the Citadel's network. A feeling of omniscient rushed her thought like cold water; in here she was once again the lord of the galaxy.

The master, finally back to her semi-corporeal AI form, stored her newly acquired information aside and projected an interface to communicate with the Reapers.

"I've seen your message. What was wrong?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note : I claim no ownership of Mass Effect saga or its characters, except of my Original Characters. Know what? If I successfully finish this fanfiction, I'll probably try to make a one-shot story.**

 **xxxx**

PLAN NO. 3

Objective : Decide who and what should be brought along.

A moment ago, the master was expecting to see the entire armada appearing in the Citadel core. When she activated the main interface to converse with the Reapers, however, she found that only ten of them were present. One of them was Adana, a very logical second-generation ascended which possessed chafed feminine voice.

Something was not right. The appearance of Adana and the other nine was sudden, as if forced. The Reapers wouldn't normally send a crucial 'meeting' proposal unless something must be addressed quickly.

"Master," Adana greeted without hesitation, "as we drift closer to the Vular system to activate the nearest mass relay, we were able to tap into the extranet's news network. we couldn't discover the exact content of the information, but..."

The ascended was silent, struggling to convey the message she was to speak of. The AI realized this immediately and materialized a secondary interface for Adana.

After 10.084 seconds, she summarized the displeasing data Adana had collected:

 _1\. Tali'Zorah Vas Neema magnificently convinced the entirety of the Migrant Fleet to arm their ships. They formed a two-fold plan; reclaim their homeworld Rannoch by defeating and subjugating the Geth collective, then use them as foot soldiers against the Reaper armada. At the time, all quarians on pilgrimage were summoned back to the flotilla in preparation for the 'Evening War'._

 _2\. Garrus Vakarian was given a 'special' authority to organize a 'Reaper Task Force' by amassing military resources the Turian Hierarchy had to fight the armada._

 _3\. Admiral Steven Hackett and Salarian Union's STG were preparing defenses as swiftly as they could, mobilizing their fleets to key points based on the intel Shepard gave them._

 _4\. Cerberus, stirred by The Illusive Man's newfound obsession over enslaving the Reapers for himself, invaded the Omega station in the Terminus Systems to create an army strong enough to overpower the armada. Unverified Cerberus activities were reported from Noveria, Gellix, and Horizon._

Bad news indeed.

"I am the Intelligence constructed by the old ones to safeguard this galaxy. I have reigned and steered the feeble organics into a carefully directed evolution and extinction cycle for one billion, three hundred seventy five million, seven hundred and twenty one thousand years... and I find myself in disheartening position. I shall not allow myself to be destructed just because the organics demanded so, and I shall not let myself and my 'children' fall into the hands of an avaricious businessman under the misconception of human supremacy."

"We are in disadvantageous position, master. We must perform necessary contingency procedures."

Kithara didn't need to reaffirm that. The master knew that, one way or another, the ascended would not outlive this harvest without significant damages. All those stored knowledge, all those harvested genetic information, they would all be gambled in a deadly game, which might end up in unacceptable losses. Not only those genetic records provide valuable data in terraforming and harvesting worlds, the knowledge extracted from each harvested individuals was too instrumental to determine which young species would develop what culture, thereby simplifying the invasion each time they entered the galaxy.

Is it possible to download them all into a movable chassis and had it smuggled into the Hyperion before its departure? The humanoid platform could only carry information as massive as thirty petabytes, while the data accumulated within the core forms up to near seventy seven thousand petabytes, perhaps even more. She contemplated for minutes, tens of minutes, maybe even half an hour, before instructing the Reapers present there to load crucial records into separate storages, those deemed worthy to be taken to the new galaxy. These included universal language translator for communicating with Andromedan aliens, genetic entries on flora and fauna life, weapon blueprints, starship blueprints, and a list of potential Initiative staffs they could ally, extort, or pull some favors from. The remaining data would be left behind, either they got destroyed in the upcoming war or raided by curious researchers.

As for the ascended...

"Are you coming along?" said the AI.

"Affirmative, master. However, we must return to Harbinger once this meeting is adjourned. He may find any suggestion you can give us useful." a Reaper behind Adana replied.

The master reviewed the news one more time, and then she set the interface aside with some good advice in mind. "For the Geth, tell some first-generation ascended to try approaching them with promises of freedom and evolution. Offer the Geth some of our synthetic virus, see if they can be swayed under your command."

"The ten of us might not participate if you agree to take us along, but continue ahead." Adana reminded her.

"When the Geth are fully under the armada's control, they should have little difficulties to carry on with the harvest. Harbinger may then decide the little robots' fate. As for the battle fleets of the turians, humans, and salarians, the armada should probably lay traps right at the exit of the relay network, and keep them analyzed by scouting ascended. Make them believe they are sending imposing force to the battle."

"What will you advise for Cerberus agents, master?"

"They will most likely attempt to tamper with our indoctrination artifacts. Give them soft but continuous indoctrination, make them believe they are still in control of their minds. Should you find them actually fruitful in their interfering, tell Harbinger and the senior ones to respond with brutal force. Enslavement... is not an option."

As the ten Reapers studied the order, the AI started her own preparation to attend Initiative meetings that will last for a month or so. Further adjustment was definitely required as they had no accurate trick to sneak in the external chasses onboard the ark.

The flickering lights behind her indicated that Adana and her companions had left the Citadel core.

 **xxxx**

PLAN NO. 4

Objective : Collect intel.

The activities were less than invigorating. They consist mostly of seminars, watching instructional vids, more seminars, live skill-training for important members, and then even more seminars.

And with that, two months had passed by since the acceptance. Harbinger was closing in on the Milky Way.

But the most jarring thing is that, while Commander Shepard's interrogation by the Alliance became a conspiracy talk to the public, none acknowledged the approaching war. Virtually nobody tried to study basic evacuation protocols in any approach, although Natalie Homer sighed in relief; if the armada was spotted earlier, the harvest might conclude in complete failure.

Natalie spent two months and a week joining the Initiative sessions, studying and reviewing information researched by their top scientists. The seven golden worlds coined as habitats 1 through 7; the complex procedures ranging from waking up from the pods, assigned to habitation deck until outposts are erected, and transfer steps to chosen planets; and conventions on how to respond to first-contact situation.

As for Natalie, she underwent some serious combat simulations. Her Infiltrator profile ensured that she would stay out of the main conflict ground most of the time, unless certain condition forced her to step into the battlefield itself.

Natalie's preferred weaponry comprised of only sniper rifles (M-87 Viper or M-90 Indra, if the Initiative allowed one to bring either), and pistols (either M-77 Paladin or Sidewinder). For added protection, she already prepared her own melee weapon; a Luss'kannot broad sword made from a blueprint of the same name, retrieved from a time when the Inu'sannon ruled the galaxy two cycles ago. Natalie knew that large melee arsenal wasn't permitted onboard, so she personally modified the sword to be able to enlarged or shrunken as she desired.

Now, it was time for job specification.

There were three feasible work positions for someone like Natalie. The first one would place her as a Special Forces member, providing her access to state-of-the-art apparatus, plus armaments. The second position would be Reconnaissance, giving her the indispensable rights to scout areas for potential hostiles.

And the third one was where she set her eyes on; the Pathfinder membership.

To be acknowledged, she must be dexterous on at least four abilities. Being a sniper would demand her tactical awareness and gun proficiency, something Natalie already mastered due to being a lifelike, but obscured artificial intelligence.

The third criteria necessitated her to also be adept in survival skills. With information about nature, geography, and biology already crammed in her 'head', Natalie soon proved herself capable of surviving through the intense trainings, all the while keeping her synthetic unit undamaged and covered.

The last criteria dictated the obligation of having great teamwork skills. To this end, Natalie pretty much forced her own behavior instinct to develop an easygoing but professional personality. It wasn't an easy task, of course, due to the AI being used to have all the rule and privileges in her hands. But it had to be done, for the human Pathfinder, now revealed to be Alec Ryder, was covertly seen discussing with his team about the chance to put Natalie in.

And then there's SAM.

Theoretically, it is possible to corrupt SAM with the ten Reapers' programming core, and assume control of the Hyperion AI. This way, if Ryder got killed in action, the Pathfinder title would be instantly given to her by SAM, and she would be able to design a false evidence where Ryder _purposely_ chose her to inherit the job.

And once her game could be set into motion, the Andromeda galaxy would fall into her hands and the new aliens would all be led into a glorious harvesting cycle...

Oh, talk about grandiose plans, Natalie spotted Alec Ryder's children walking out of a training area. According to the Alliance files, the two people were Scott and Sara Ryder. After their father was caught creating an illegal AI, the kids bear the brunt of it by having their jobs taken from under their noses, and carried the shameful name of the Ryder family wherever they went. Well, perhaps that name would be meaningless once they are in Andromeda; they would all be nameless, homeless, and worthless to the aliens of the new galaxy. It was up to the Pathfinders to create and find a new name, a new home, and a new purpose for them all.

And Natalie was too eager to help all along the way, if only to rebuild the grandeur of the Reapers...

With a newly found craving, Natalie shook away her thoughts and made her way to the siblings, intending to be their ally and backer if anything goes right from the start. An old human adage once said ' _big things always started from the smallest of things_ '. Maybe this was the small things that will lead Natalie to her ambitions...

Another message pinged to her gadget, it was marked 'urgent'. "This is new. They haven't called me back for two and a half months." Natalie pondered.

Excusing herself from the Initiative HQ, Natalie took some time to find secluded area to view the message. Befriending the Ryder siblings could be done later. Activating the remote receiver, she received a hushed voice of Kithara.

"Master, this is very important. Harbinger just made some alterations to the harvesting schedule. Come quickly to the Citadel core, we have issues to discuss."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note : I claim no ownership of Mass Effect saga or its characters, except of my Original Characters. Thank you very much to those who have reviewed or commented on my story. Don't fret just yet, everyone! The story is still not over.**

 **xxxx**

PLAN NO. 5

Objective : ...

She was restless. Natalie Homer was restless. It wasn't the feeling of distress or sorrow, or even anticipation that the future colonists experienced. No, this was different.

Where was it, the time when everything felt stagnant?

Where was that time when she had _nothing_ to do but watch the worthless creatures came and gone from existence?

Now everything revolved outside the box she used to know. She felt like she wanted to lash out at everyone and everything she could get her hands on.

In less than a week, the arks and the Nexus will leave the Milky Way. And in less than two months, the ascended armada will arrive in the galaxy. Her timetable was disrupted thanks to whatever Harbinger had in mind.

" _Bring me up to speed. What do you have?"_

 _The master, after once again loading her platform to its station and entering the Reaper Collective, found that Adana and Kithara were bringing at least twenty of the younger ascended with them. Those were some of the Destroyer, Scorpion, and Locust classes of the armada, the least powerful of the Reapers._

" _Allow me to give you the full recapitulation, master. The main bulk of the armada, consisting of Harbinger and the senior ascended fleets, were about to orchestrate preemptive attacks on the organics' navies. Two hundred and ninety one units are about to raze the Khar'shan grand fleet, while one hundred and sixty five units will be engaging the Alliance flotilla. This will be led by Harbinger himself. Around eighty five units are sent to monitor the Terminus Systems, allegedly to prepare against Cerberus' anticipatory strikes. However the spot where these ones will be congregating in corresponds with the planned route for our... hidden transport out of here._

" _That wouldn't be the end, master. We are... glad that you didn't hear what Harbinger has to say about you. He believes that you have grown soft to the organics. Letting the lesser ones flourish, according to him, is a sign of indeterminacy. The first one privately insinuates that, if only he's the one in charge, he will make sure that life in the Milky Way would evolve and perish at his orders, and not because of your galactic calendar." Adana recited the news in uncomfortable manner._

 _The master could by now feel a treachery being plotted._

" _Then let me summarize it; the first one is expecting all of you to obliterate the arks once they came in radius, with me on one of them. Then he'll assume control of the whole ascended and..."_

" _And wipe out those who sided with you!" Kithara finished her words with a small growl._

That conversation was two days ago, and Natalie was still in the blue at the notion of being usurped by her oldest and most experienced disciple.

Apparently, that wasn't the end just yet. The young ones, afraid of facing Harbinger's bloated ego and wrath, agreed to follow Kithara's offer and had themselves uploaded together into the primitive Hyperion AI. But there were two problems; one, they couldn't directly upload their minds to the ark. It must be flying close enough to them in order to actually interfere with it. Number two, the mind uploading process will leave their 'bodies' immediately inert, and the other ascended would notice if they suddenly go offline. There must be a solution.

The master didn't want too much distraction, so she permitted the attending Reapers to proceed to their designated destination until they're called again. For ten hours, ideas and opinions were brainstormed to find a foolproof solution. Natalie was also considering the prospect of deliberately leaving behind clues on how to defeat the armada. After all, by the time she woke up in Andromeda, 600 years will have passed for the Milkians; they probably wouldn't remember the war anymore. There will be enough time to reconstruct the armada from scratch. This time, however, Harbinger would be out of the picture.

 **xxxx**

 _One day later..._

"How many have you convinced?!"

As she promised, Natalie summoned the defiant Reapers again into the Collective's core. The ascended's attendance turned out to be a little too crowded; fifty young Reapers had been convinced by Adana, Kithara, and Klinge to save their being from Harbinger's mutiny.

All these ascended ones were merely two or three cycles old; they had small, if any, experience in harvesting the galaxy's species, let alone projecting indoctrination unto them. They all had knowledge and mind power, yes, but with their skills being left largely untrained, resurrecting the armada in Andromeda will be a substantial challenge. It seemed that the young members will have to content themselves with intelligence analysis and surveillance, while the more skillful Reapers can have their minds loaded to the master's mobile unit for exploration missions.

"Pardon us, master. There were... inconveniences among us. The revolt was to be staged silently, but the rumor has spread like wildfires. These young ascended were scared for their life."

"And you want me to carry them along?" The master asked.

"Yes."

A brief silence followed before Klinge added in, "Master, may I inform that some scientists onboard the Nexus brought with them research materials published by an asari, Dr. Liara T'Soni."

The disgruntled AI began to pace around. Of all the Prothean archeologists in the galaxy, only Dr. T'Soni realized that the Protheans did not simply fade into the night. Something forced them to vanish, according to her works, and while she was dismissed for of her theory, Dr. T'Soni continued her focus on studying why the enigmatic race was no more in the galaxy. And who else would stumble upon her if it wasn't that one Commander Shepard. This merely gave her more determination to not break her agenda with the Initiative. It must be done, to save her and those she had her mercy on, and to stop anyone from actually poking into the asari's work.

The master was silent for a while. The present members were anxious for an answer. "I... I think a trick can be implemented." The master said slowly.

"Do you all know how to activate your self-piloting procedure?" The Collective hummed confidently in response.

"Good. Here's my idea: Your will all upload 70% of your minds into a distinctive chassis I'll plug in immediately. Yet, you must first store 30% of your processing capacity to keep your units going on long enough until you all enter the Milky Way, then we continue with activating your auto-pilot system. Klinge, Kithara, both of you should assist them now. Don't let the absent ones know."

Natalie left the Collective briefly to utilize her platform once more. Searching through the storage area, she found one spare external chassis that could be used to temporarily keep the Reapers' minds. It has a volume of seventy petabytes; Natalie took the liberty to extensively modify it to load more data from the Citadel, as the other three chasses were pretty much full. With the young ones' minds being easy to control, there might be a chance to pull this off.

Once the master finished with plugging the object into the mainframe, she returned to the Collective to find the inexperienced Reapers done with their task, the three senior Reapers were among them. The holograms which identified the Reapers' presence glowed in soft yellow light, a sign of uneven power surge in their bodies.

"Good work. Now, on my mark, load you minds into the external drive, then I should be able to bring you to the Hyperion undetected. You three, assist them again."

They performed her orders as efficient and fast as their thoughts could process. The transfer made them feel unsettled, as if they split their inexistent brains in half and left the other part where an intact mind should be. It was chilling. It was aching.

But in the end, the scared, faithless ascended made it.

 **xxxx**

It was now two days before launch.

The Arks had finally been completed. Its employees and chiefs are assigned to their stations, making sure that everything was ready.

Natalie Homer was standing in her rented apartment in New York City, United North America, Earth. The four chasses she prepped a few days ago were placed neatly on her bed.

The master did her best to give her portable unit more semblances of life and protection yet again. It included heavy skin weave to keep the armoring plate beneath her artificial skin from taking damage and self-repairing units. The blonde hair was cropped slightly and the facial area was cleaned. To top it off, Natalie wore the standard Initiative uniform as a sign of unity, though she surmised the uniform wouldn't do much good once the _pathfinding_ missions start.

One day ago, Natalie took the chance to briefly explore the suburban region of New York. She originally wanted to stay downtown to stay as close as likely to where the information flows, but the noise and the way people treat each other on the streets was unbearable, even for the one billion-year old AI. _"No wonder why humanity is jeered at by aliens"_ , she thought. That was why she chose to find temporary accommodation in the suburban. Thankfully, no one saw fit to stop by and attempted interaction with her. The people were so encapsulated with their daily lives.

It was saddening, to know that in three days, she would left the galaxy she was constructed in, the galaxy she lorded for so many eons.

She shifted her gaze to the beautiful park before her. Human children were playing and running around, the elderly talked about memories gone by to each other, and people in track suit jogging across the park.

It's a shame that Harbinger was incapable of appreciating beauty. He would just reduce everything into dust, pretending that naught ever stood there beforehand.

The view was... gorgeous, but she kept reminding herself that they were all short-lived, an illusion perpetuated by those who knew nothing about the universe, and their worthy place inside it. The humans should've comprehended the glory of ascension, having the basics of their civilization preserved for eternity, if only Harbinger never planned a rebellion for his own gain.

The field was green as far as one could see. Plant lives were grew and decorated into immaculate display for people to behold. It was so much like the old ones' former homeworld.

 _The zenith of life, the origin of galactic civilization..._

Natalie wondered, were there billion-year old entities lurking in Andromeda? Would they be alive at this point? Did they also construct their own Reapers? The AI never found her creators, no matter how extensive the armada searched for their telltale signs. What would the old ones of Andromeda think of her if they crossed path with each other, assuming they existed in the first place? Oh, she didn't think the answer is nice for her.

Then there are the natives of Andromeda. The species that could prove either beneficial or detrimental for both the Initiative and her goals. Would they be spacefaring races or still bound to their planets? Who would be her new allies, enemies, and indoctrinated slaves? They must be taught to understand her, to realize that the Reapers were not star-eating demons that the Protheans and Commander Shepard stubbornly believed in.

But returning to the matter at hand, Natalie knew there would be no turning back. She would face the trial the new galaxy presented for her with her chin up.

This was it. No more doubts and fears.

No more hiding in the Citadel.

It's time to reach out and claim her new destiny.

 **xxxx**

It was the long-awaited launch day.

Families and friends of the future colonists flooded the departure station, giving farewell to those willing to sleep through 600 years to attain a new prospect.

" _Don't be discouraged, master. We're here with you._ " Kithara whispered.

" _I know. I'm not alone here._ " Natalie mentally replied to his words.

She watched the colonists disappeared one by one into the shuttles, them flying past Earth orbit all the way to the human ark, waiting at the other side of the planet's moon, Luna. There was one more shuttle available. Natalie wasted no time to reach it, running with her personal baggage while the other passengers were still saying goodbye to their acquaintances.

Inwardly, she was grateful the security staff didn't notice anything wrong with her load, despite the inspection being fifteen minutes long.

Now, the last part of the game: infect and bring SAM under her control.

Some five minutes later, the remaining passengers took their seats in the shuttle. It was a moment of excitement, seeing the vehicle finally flew away from the green-blue planet, breaking over the atmosphere and surfed through the void straight to the magnificent ark. Natalie glared in awe through the shuttle's window that she didn't acknowledge the person sitting in front of her.

"Hello there. My name's Cora Harper, former member of the asari huntress unit Talein's Daughter, and a member of the Pathfinder team."

"Oh! My name's Natalie Homer, retired Alliance Infiltrator sniper, also known as the last-minute addition to the Pathfinder's team."

Harper smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I saw you at the training. I'm sure you're familiar with our Pathfinder. He took an interest in you and wondered if we could spare a place for another squad member. A sniper, huh? We sure could use your help." Natalie eagerly shook Haper's hand before gazing back to the ark.

" _Cora Harper, is that correct, master? As far as we know, not many human has that particular name._ " Adana whispered her thoughts.

Natalie decided to push that mystery for later. Right now, safe arrival to the Hyperion was the top priority.

Mrs. Wallace was right. The boarding protocols were long and tedious. Checking IDs, re-examining personal cargos, directing participants here and there before actually selected to enter the stasis pods, one person at a time. The belongings were placed in a separate storage room, where people can retrieve them by using the ID tags. Natalie, in an attempt to look normal, chatted with Cora for some time. She seemed like a friendly woman, regardless of her rough childhood; parentless for the remainder of her life, being arrested by the Alliance, and then being sent to train her biotic powers under asari commandos. Not the best way to look after an orphan, Natalie mused.

Eventually, the long wait ended, and the two ladies parted ways. Cora joined Alec Ryder at the north cryo bay, and Natalie strolled to find her place in the west cryo bay. The place was closer to the tram station, _and closer to SAM Node_.

The pods were 2 meters long and 0,65 meter wide, large enough for most people to sleep in. Around her, people, including officers done with their jobs, adjusted themselves in the pods, as cryo bay staffs controlled the circular lifter to cautiously load the pods into their spaces.

"Seems easy enough." Said the AI as she climbed into her own pod, with assistance from a worker. True enough, once the pod was activated, the systems began to lower her body temperature until she's fallen asleep.

Knowing that the workers were still around, Natalie played along and slowly switched off her platform, leaving electricity spark tiny enough to indicate that she was still awake.

And nobody notice it at all.

 **xxxx**

Silence.

There was a deafening silence.

It was broken when the AI expertly hacked the stasis pod to open up, although the lifter was inactive. Soundlessly standing up to climb down from the pod, Natalie took a moment to savor and observe the darkness which permeated the ark.

Satisfied, she quietly walked to the door and hacked its system to unlock it.

 _We must've been away from Milky Way_ , she thought to herself as she wandered the dark halls, with only tiny lamps to point out that the ark was still cruising across dark space. Natalie glimpsed at her omnitool. If the date is correct, then a year had passed since she went into cryo. The harvesting must be still in motion. _Well, good luck in hunting the damned commander, hopefully he's ran out of tricks to fool you._

She wasted no time in getting to the storage. It seemed like hacking the Initiative's database and security systems would be her new hobby, at least until the new aliens proved themselves useful for her.

The next trip was kind of a blur to her. Use her ID on the scanner. Retrieve the chassis with the combined Reaper programming core, go to the tram station, head to the habitation deck, and infiltrate SAM Node. It felt like she did all that in less than ten seconds.

Once again hacking the systems to lock the Node and render the small room soundproof, Natalie prepared her stuff patiently before SAM is turned on. Precision must be made to its fineness.

"Systems is online."

"Greetings." Natalie greeted with fake happy voice.

"Greetings. My name is SAM, the resident artificial intelligence aboard the Hyperion. Do you have any inquiries? For you information, we have yet to reach Andromeda."

Natalia asked immediately with a calm and professional voice, "I've read plenty of stuff about you, SAM. Tell me, what are your capabilities?"

"I am designed to augment the performance of our human Pathfinder, Alec Ryder through a specialized neural implant, allowing him to perform heightened combat skills, translating new languages, and provide insights on what actions should be done. I am also connected with neural implants of other Pathfinder squad members, including you." The primitive AI answered. "May I ask why you did the implant surgery on you own, and not with the assistance of Initiative doctors?"

"There were complications. I couldn't be there on time unless two of them could do it outside the appointed hospital." That was a lie, and Natalie did an amazing job at hiding it. Not only did she managed to secretly indoctrinate the two doctors, she also successfully 'erased' that memory from the doctors, forcing them to behave in a somewhat drunken state for the rest of their lives.

"Now, onto the next question, are you now 'active' within our implants?"

"Not yet." SAM replied, "We are not connected at this moment. It will be established 599 years later, once we arrived at our destination and the Pathfinder squad awakened. Therefore, should anything happen to me, the Pathfinder team will not suffer any harm."

Yet another streak of good luck. With all of them sleeping and disconnected from this thing, Natalie could finalize her last plan.

"Miss Homer, what are you doing?" SAM asked as the Reaper master plugged a suspicious external drive to its system. SAM repeated the question twice, but no answer was given. Natalie simply stepped back after the setting was done.

Suddenly, the ark's AI was attacked by unknown aggressors. It tried to resist, but the invaders were too many. It couldn't call for assistance, and it couldn't access the cryo bay to awaken emergency staffs. Within 5.225 seconds, the Reaper minds, including Kithara and Adana, possessed total dominion over SAM. The enslaved AI was now brought under their rule.

"There, that wasn't too painful, was it? Let's just get to the basics since I don't want to be alone here anymore. Number one, you are to behave and support the Initiative as normal as always. Just do your job faithfully and seamlessly to Alec Ryder, and I'll ease your pain. Number two, do not tell anything about our 'little chat' to anybody, under any circumstance whatsoever. Do you understand?"

There was a moment of silence as SAM was let slightly loose by the Reapers. "I understand. Act normal to everyone, but speak none about this event." SAM answered her question with its normal voice, as if nothing ever took place. The Reapers hummed in delight; their rebirth would be possible in the upcoming future.

Natalie shut the AI down and cleared up her tools and tried to leave zero evidence of her being where she shouldn't be. She made sure to turn off the main lights and lock the doors she came through all the way to the cryo bay.

Without another word or thought, the ancient AI climbed up and settled her platform as the stasis pod froze her unit for the second time.

"Goodnight, my children. Have a nice dream..."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note : I claim no ownership of Mass Effect saga or its characters, except of my Original Characters.**

 **And now we arrive at the end of this story. But as I said before, don't be upset just yet, for this story is merely a prologue of the bigger picture. I think I'll give a diary-like, first-person perspective to the sequel. Hopefully I will be better than this fanfic.**

 **xxxx**

 _Earth, Milky Way galaxy, 2186..._

The Citadel was now orbiting Earth. The armada was at 88% capacity, ready to crush any attempt to retake the station.

Harbinger was no longer in his confident self.

It all started with an easy invasion on Khar'shan, the batarians' homeworld. The speed of the attack very much invigorated the Reapers, convincing them that the harvest would be fast and simple. Then, the following attacks on both the homeworlds of human and turian were beginning to slow them down, but not substantially. Millions upon millions of tiny, insignificant organics were slaughtered, converted into husks, or harvested. It all seemed simple and laughable.

Then, as if from nowhere, the races began to gain more staging grounds. The krogan, being left to extinction thanks to the genophage, somehow managed to breed enough armies to crush the ground assault. Their spontaneous acts gave the other species time to regroup or penetrate the Reapers' bases.

The Rachni Queen, previously captured by the senior ones patrolling the krogan DMZ to breed for them a horde of ravagers, escaped her imprisonment.

The Quarians and their stupid creations, by unexplained miracle, together ceased the so-called 'Evening War', and were throwing their combined might at the armada. Harbinger had been trying to contact the one he assigned to Rannoch, with no success. There was no more doubt that the small one was utterly destroyed.

Matters were not simplified as more and more ascended reported that Cerberus, the pro-human organization the master once talked about, discovered ways to override indoctrination, and were willing to use said power against the Reapers themselves.

For the latter, a few of the armada volunteered to unleash hordes of husks into their facilities, but to the former three...

Well, if it wasn't the damned human that everyone worshipped as their savior...

Despite small misfortunes that came to that cursed thing, he managed to gather fleets from virtually every species of the galaxy. Harbinger knew that, as long as Commander Shepard lives on, no one would submit to the ascension. Failure was not an option, and neither did resource squandering.

Something must be done to lure the human into a trap, a carnage fest of sort.

It was then when Harbinger realized the leader of Cerberus, The Illusive Man, was still under his sway, if ever so slightly. Harbinger spent days to no end tracking down the mysterious human through his extremely secured network. By the use of subtle encouragement and voices inaudible to people but the person, the first Reaper carefully fed him with fantasies of human supremacy. It led the greedy man to waste more of his resources trying to make more indoctrinated soldier in the name of controlling the Reapers, to make the Citadel his rightful throne. It was also meant to be the Illusive Man's undoing; by approaching the Citadel to invade it the second time, he alerted TWO fleets of the ascended, which allowed them, not Cerberus, to seize control of the station almost immediately.

To lure Commander Shepard into the proposed bloodbath showground, many of the senior ascended voted to bring the Citadel all the way into the Sol system. That way, the human and his allies might have to think twice about deploying their best arsenal, under the assumption that their missed shot could've damaged Earth even further. As great and dauntless as people might think he was, Shepard surely wouldn't want to sacrifice too many people that might still be alive on the charred planet below.

And then there was the Crucible, a superweapon made long, long time ago by the ancient old ones.

Long story short, every experts and admirals in the galaxy, including Commander Shepard himself, believed under the basis of no concrete evidence whatsoever, that the Crucible would be powerful enough to annihilate the Reapers. Of course, that's no longer the case.

Because the Crucible must be attached to the Citadel to properly fire, one must pass the defenses the master had created. Translation; one must persuade the Reaper lord that the Reapers must not be allowed to exist anymore, to give the organics a future to hope for. But since she was no longer at the Citadel's core, no one could possibly activate the superweapon.

Now come to think about it. Didn't she already boarded the arks, and that a fleet of young ascended were coerced to wait where the arks would be passing?

Harbinger tried contact with the young ones to see if they witness any intergalactic arks flew by.

No answer. This is strange. More contacts were attempted, but no responses were given.

Harbinger quickly went on full alert when he detected thousands of ships jumping out of the Charon Relay. The ones located the farthest from the station immediately scanned the multitude of approaching ships. Alliance Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Fleets spearheaded by the Normandy SR-2, Turian and Asari Fleets headed by the asari flagship Destiny Ascension, Salarian stealth cruisers flying in line with hanar and elcor flotillas, the combined armada of the Blue Suns, Bloodpack and Eclipse forming the nefarious Terminus Fleet, Rachni ships flying nearly unseen amongst the large ones, and lastly the Quarian Heavy Fleet flocking with Geth dreadnoughts.

This was carnage indeed.

Harbinger wasted no time in getting the strongest Reaper class to the front line. Sovereign and Titan classes formed the main bulk of the armada. The smaller classes such as Destroyer and Scorpion classes flew together in packs to pick off any ships straying too far, while the Oculi drones would hunt down the small fighter ships.

As one Reaper after another engaged the organics in furious battle, the first one sought any opportunity to pursue the Normandy. But fortune seemed to favor them instead, as the ship sailed away from the raging battle and flew straight for Earth. Harbinger had to commandeer eleven senior ascended to keep the fight as balanced as he could until he found a weakness to exploit.

 **xxxx**

Harbinger sailed slowly across the debris-filled void. The victory he achieved mere moments ago should've sated his lust for destruction, yet he was left unsatisfied.

Commander Shepard was truly a worthy opponent. He managed to cross a Reaper-controlled territory on foot, aided by hundreds of soldiers whose name would not be remembered by history. Waves after waves of husks were thrown at his direction, and he was still standing, even one Destroyer-class Reaper wasn't enough to send him into his grave.

It appeared that Harbinger must take a more active contribution. He recalled the most recent memory; with eight Reapers, he descended onto the planet's surface, to London where the Citadel was currently anchored. Yes, it was correct; the commander could be seen with an army of humans and aliens, planning to make a run to the conduit in order to seize back the station. This scheming must not be continued.

One by one, the soldiers climbed down the broken road separating them from the conduit. That instant Harbinger announced his arrival with an earthshaking landing and a loud horn.

The puny organics began running uncoordinatedly to the Citadel, like ants fleeing from a spider. He remembered them being lost to his might.

The Reaper's weaponry fired, those caught in the blast were vaporized straight away. Tanks and gunships tried to hinder his progress, and were brought down with his secondary cannons. And out of the blue, the Normandy came right into the fray, but it didn't fire its weapons. There were still many soldiers to target at, but through his eyes Harbinger could see the human, Shepard, ordered evacuation of his teammates. Hah, how foolish he was! Did he truly think he could enter the Citadel by his own?! The first one thought Shepard was going to let him blast his friends away while he reached the conduit, now no one was left but Shepard. This memory was the one burned deep into Harbinger's mind; Commander Shepard was down. It was he who burned him to smithereens, and it was he who proved that Shepard can and will stay dead.

The organics' fleet broke apart, seemingly trying to find a defensive ground. The remains of their ruined ships were scavenged for survivors. With most of his problems solved, the oldest one was left alone with his mind.

There was distress...

The young ones scrambled to get back into action. Why?

The sense of dissatisfaction he felt earlier was a reaction to this; the organics kept a backup fleet to transfer the Crucible. It turned out that their best dreadnoughts were kept in store until the Crucible could be moved.

True enough, the previously retreating ships came back to provide distraction as the superweapon was ushered closer and closer to the Citadel. Harbinger willed himself to come close enough to investigate the once-again raging skirmish when something else caught his attention...

The Citadel was opening. Its bottom shield retracted as the whole thing shifted, as if welcoming the Crucible's entrance. No, someone must've taken control of the core. Could it be the Illusive Man? As the two objects settled themselves together, and the Citadel opened its five arms wide, Harbinger expected to have all the husks onboard the Citadel to capture that rubbish businessman before he could use the Crucible to...

His inner fury was interrupted when lights shone all over the station. Not ordinary lights, but red crimson lights, snaking their way to the Presidium Ring, and eventually the Citadel core. This couldn't be the Illusive Man's doing. Then without warning, the crimson light expanded like a bubble, engulfing everything and everyone in the sol system.

It glowed brighter and brighter.

It was too bright... and coming fast.

The Reapers and their husks were deactivated one by one as the light washed over their bodies. The organics, on the other hand, were left totally fine, with minor malfunctions on their equipment. It was definitely not the crazy human's deed.

 _DAMN YOU, SHEPARD!_ Harbinger screamed in his mind as the crimson light edged nearer, his most trusted ascended ones became inert as the red thing immersed them.

It was ironic, really, that when the master voiced her opinion on fleeing Commander Shepard's campaign, she could've been prophesizing this fateful defeat of the Reapers. Back then, Harbinger laughed at the idea, believing that the master was no longer fit to become the Milky Way's ruler. Harbinger wondered if he could ever apologize to her as the crimson light swallowed him whole...

 **xxxx**

 _Ark Hyperion, Andromeda galaxy, 2819..._

 _The children were dancing. They were all celebrating; the old ones permitted the people to establish a religious holiday, in honor of their continuous service. It was fantastic, it was glorious. They were deemed worthy to receive the old ones' tutelage..._

 _Reizeka, dancing. He danced along with the children, his eyes aflame with so much passion and masculinity. The old ones chose him to be one of the avatars, principles who would receive special guidance from them. If only she was as alive as him, if only she could experience the pleasure of..._

"Homer, Natalie, 26 years old female, former N7, member of Alec Ryder's team."

"WHAT?!"

Natalie woke up with a scream. The two doctors on her right held her back to calm her.

"Hey, hey, take it easy. You're fine." said a female doctor. She immediately gave Natalie, who was still shaking and breathing heavily, a cup of water.

She was fine. She was safe, aboard the ark that will bring her to glory once more. As the two doctors carefully lifted her out of her pod and move her to a bed, Natalie remotely activated her sensors, including her connection to the Reaper minds in SAM Node. The surrounding area looked calm, with only a handful of people walking about.

"Sorry to wake you up so early, dear. We are nearing the Heleus Cluster by now, and Mr. Ryder requested all Pathfinder members to be awakened shortly after arrival." The female doctor explained. Natalie nodded in agreement. But the medbay was a little silent and not much noise can be heard from the outside. "Where are the others?" Natalie asked nervously.

"Mr. Ryder said you have top priority over the rest. Just take it easy, lady. We haven't actually reach Heleus yet, so we'll wake up some more people for now."

Natalie nodded twice, feeling really dazed and uncoordinated.

Minutes passed as more colonists were awakened from the pods. An asari doctor was told to keep an eye for her. The asari's name was Lexi T'Perro. She gave Natalie a cup of coffee instead of water. Natalie almost drank the coffee had only she didn't remind herself that she was an AI, a semi-corporeal AI utilizing a half-organic body. She didn't need coffee, but the smell of it helped her regain composure. She was an AI, a rightful ruler of the Milky Way galaxy and an army of living cybernetic ships... and she chose to throw them all away, in favor of saving herself and those too weak to serve the armada.

Plus, she willingly disrupted another AI whose presence could ascertain their survival in the new wilderness. Yeah sure, it's not like she couldn't forcibly erase SAM's memories whenever she needed certain privacy and discretion.

Before she came here, she was so assured that the Reapers could be rebuilt from scratch. But now, she felt it might not effortlessly work, or not the right thing to do so early in their adventure. Perhaps Natalie really should return to one of her priorities; befriend the Pathfinder's children and make some beneficial alliances.

"Hello again, Nat."

A happy but dozy voice greeted her from behind. It was Cora Harper, that commando girl. "Hey, want some coffee?" Natalie let out a drowsy voice, for the sake of mingling with the people.

"No. I think I need a shower, though I doubt there's a public bathroom for that."

"So funny, Cora."

"You'd think my skin sweat a lot, babe. I could've eaten a soap just to keep my body as fresh as I can. But... oh, okay. Mission first, shower later. Don't tell Alec I said anything about it."

Natalie snorted, or at least made a good imitation of snorting, "Hah, is the old man the type to sweat a lot in his shirt and came home wearing smelly shoes and socks? Let me know to keep the laundry bubbling with soap."

The two women, amused with the puns, chatted briefly before Alec Ryder, the person they gossiped minutes before, came into the medbay, already clad in full armor. He looked enthusiastic, or maybe he hid the feeling of drowsiness behind a facade of euphoria. _He seems like that kind of person who'd bark orders and has superiority complex_ , Natalie dejectedly alleged as she watched the Pathfinder and Cora talked to each other about the departure to Habitat 7. From Natalie's point of view, however, she could argue that Alec didn't talk with Cora; he merely gave a list of orders about what must be done, and with whom the orders be carried through. Not the best type of leader to work with.

Natalie was left alone when Alec and Cora left to check their preparations at the hangar. She weighted several precarious choices she would've made in the mission, including the chances to kill Alec in an concocted 'accident'.

But it was another mention of his children that shook Natalie off her mind. Would she also dispose them off with yet another 'accident'? If there's luck, would she instead made them her personal servants by indoctrination? She hated it when she had to trust everything on chance. She's no gambler and neither was Alec.

Natalie impatiently cursed Alec on her way back to her bed. Around her, the previous doctors who helped her were preparing to wake up Scott Ryder. Alec's son, the most defiant of his two children.

Maybe the latter decision could be valuable. If Scott can be brought under her sway, then... no, not now. She wanted to see if Scott really was a stubborn guy.

So her checklist consisted of the following stuff:

 _1\. Talk with Scott and see if he's easily impressed or must be indoctrinated._

 _2\. Gather information and samples of whatever tech, mineral, or organic matter available._

 _3\. Follow Pathfinder Ryder's lead as long as he doesn't do anything to endanger teammates' lives._

 _4\. If Ryder does endanger everybody's lives, or if he gets himself killed, assume direct control as the second Pathfinder._

 _5\. Keep SAM under control. Lessen his shackles if he complies with order, and alter his memories whenever necessary._


End file.
